Militants attack Kashmir army camp, shot dead; Three killed

Jammu: Three militants, dressed in army uniforms, Friday attacked an army camp in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district riding a goods vehicle they hijacked at gunpoint, but were shot dead after a gunfight. A soldier and the vehicle's driver and another occupant were also killed.

Jammu Inspector General of Police Rajesh Kumar told reporters that the operation against the three guerrillas, dressed in army uniforms, ended in the evening after all three were killed by the security forces.

The three militants earlier hijacked a truck, killed one rpt one of its occupants and forced the driver to take them to the army camp in the Kathua district.

The body of the vehicle's driver has been found some distance away from the Kalibari-Janglote army camp where the three guerrillas were engaged in a sustained gunfight by the security forces.

"The body of Tarseem Singh, the driver of the Balero load carrier that had been hijacked by the militants from Dayal Chak on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway, was spotted by some civilians two kilometres away from the Kalibari-Janglote camp," Rajesh Kumar said.

"Tarseem Singh belonging to Ranbir Singh Pura area was forced to drive the vehicle by the militants after they killed one occupant of the vehicle on the spot and injured three others at Dayal Chak around 4.30 a.m.," he said.

"The bullet-riddled body of Tarseem Singh has been taken over by police for completion of formalities," he added.

A defence spokesman told IANS the three guerrillas were killed in a joint operation by the army and the state police at Kalibari Janglote camp.

One soldier was killed in this operation while another was injured, he added.

After the twin terror strikes on the highway, traffic on the otherwise busy Jammu-Pathankot highway was stopped.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the terror strike.

"I would like to unequivocally condemn today's militant attack in Kathua area of Jammu," he tweeted.

"I will not be commenting or reacting to today's events until the security forces have declared the operation as concluded," he added.

The attack is reminiscent of a similar terror strike in Kathua district Sep 26, 2013, when guerrillas first stormed the Hira Nagar police station, killing five policemen and a civilian, and then attacked an army camp near Samba town.